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Truly successful marketing campaigns

post #1 of 19
10/29/05 at 6:25am
Thread Starter 
I was watching "Shadows Of The Bat: The Cinematic Saga Of The Dark Night" on the BATMAN '89 DVD (well worth watching just to hear Nicholson's comments), and there was a meaty feature on the film's intense advertising campaign and perceptions on how successful the film would end up being; including the brouhaha on casting Michael Keaton as Batman and Tim Burton directing the film, the first cut of the original BATMAN trailer and audience reactions to it (folks were even looking for boots of the trailer and paying outrageous prices for it!), the corporate tie-ins, general word-of-mouth on the film being darker than many were expecting (nothing like the Tv show or previous Batman film - Burton and Co. wanted to make that clear from the get-go), and how the film became the blueprint for studios to market films.

I was 11 when BATMAN was released and I did watch the film in a theater. A wonderful experience, and my recollection is that, back in '89, the film was a success both in financial and critical terms. Audiences seemed to be pretty pleased with Burton's take on The Dark Knight all the while the marketing tie-ins and overexposure didn't seem to hurt the film's integrity or expectations. That seems like a rare feat nowadays where you have either too much hype with the inevitable backlash and tepid response from both audiences and critics or too little exposure.

I think a truly successful marketing campaign is one that balances art and expectations on an almost equal level.
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post #2 of 19
10/29/05 at 1:25pm
I believe there was some cool trailer buzz for some director (Albert Hitchlock?) and his film 'Psychlo'...

...but NO ads for a sequel to 'Battlefield Earth' will get me parting with MY hard-earned money/time.
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post #3 of 19
10/29/05 at 1:26pm
The PS3 CG video brainwashing campaign.

It's great cuz its totally fake and raising expectation and hype to new levels and there are still "ye faithful" out there who still believe the vids were real.

Its crazy, its also very successful.

A good advertising campaign just sells products. Basically.
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post #4 of 19
10/29/05 at 1:32pm
The Blair Witch Project.

Whatever one may think about the film itself these days, that was just a work of marketing genius.

Although, if it was my decision to make, I would've NEVER said a word about the film being fake until well after the movie was out of theaters.
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post #5 of 19
10/29/05 at 2:37pm
Spider-Man
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post #6 of 19
10/29/05 at 2:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Radb707
The PS3 CG video brainwashing campaign.

It's great cuz its totally fake and raising expectation and hype to new levels and there are still "ye faithful" out there who still believe the vids were real.

Its crazy, its also very successful.

A good advertising campaign just sells products. Basically.
I've never heard of this one, care to elaborate? It sounds pretty cool.
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post #7 of 19
10/29/05 at 5:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormin
I've never heard of this one, care to elaborate? It sounds pretty cool.
He can't. He's an anti- Sony fanboy. The falseness was never truly proven.
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post #8 of 19
10/30/05 at 1:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeadChickRFun
He can't. He's an anti- Sony fanboy. The falseness was never truly proven.
Not to turn this into a videogame thread, but the majority of videos shown were proven false. Interviews with the developers themselves revealed that the videos were pre-rendered.
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post #9 of 19
10/30/05 at 7:32am
The first Matrix. Got the audience interested without giving away much. The sequels, of course...
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post #10 of 19
10/30/05 at 7:55am
Thread Starter 
I really liked the marketing for THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN. That poster and the commercial advertising the film being the best-reviewed of the year (at the time, at least) were a good example of aiming squarely for the target audience and playing with the film's premise in an attention-grabbing, but humorous, way.
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post #11 of 19
10/30/05 at 3:10pm
Cannibal Holocaust.
The makers of this Italian horror classic claimed that the actors in the film actually died and that you can see the killings in the film.
This was all total bullshit ofcourse, but lots of people fell for it, resulting in Cannibal Holocaust being banned in about 542 countries.

20 years later, the makers of Blair Witch Project used the same marketing trick.
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post #12 of 19
10/30/05 at 3:37pm
The marketing for the original "Saw" was so effective it actually convinced some people that the shit sandwich they were sold was good.
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post #13 of 19
10/30/05 at 8:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Y3k-Bug
Not to turn this into a videogame thread, but the majority of videos shown were proven false. Interviews with the developers themselves revealed that the videos were pre-rendered.
Thank you.

Why would I be anti-sony...they gave me spider-man 2 and many other nice things.

I totally agree with the marketing for Blair Witch Project
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post #14 of 19
10/31/05 at 3:34am
Independence Day's marketing was fantastic. That was one of the first movies that had me hook line and sinker, just from the ads. Of course, that movie gets worse every time I watch it, but that's irrelevent, it got asses in seats, and most of them loved it(the people, not the asses).

Blair Witch was another great example, but that campaign was almost minimilist compared to ID4. It seemed the ads started appearing on TV after the movie turned out to be a hit.

I guess ID4 was a great exaple of a MASS marketing push, that involved some great teaser material. Blair Witch was more of misinformation and KILLER word of mouth(many of those people still believing it to be real). I think Blair Witch really showed how important a movie website could be as well.

*edited to add... This isn't so much a marketing campaign, but the teaser for Terminator 2 was brilliant.
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post #15 of 19
10/31/05 at 9:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexus-6
Independence Day's marketing was fantastic. That was one of the first movies that had me hook line and sinker, just from the ads. Of course, that movie gets worse every time I watch it, but that's irrelevent, it got asses in seats, and most of them loved it(the people, not the asses).

Blair Witch was another great example, but that campaign was almost minimilist compared to ID4. It seemed the ads started appearing on TV after the movie turned out to be a hit.

I guess ID4 was a great exaple of a MASS marketing push, that involved some great teaser material. Blair Witch was more of misinformation and KILLER word of mouth(many of those people still believing it to be real). I think Blair Witch really showed how important a movie website could be as well.

*edited to add... This isn't so much a marketing campaign, but the teaser for Terminator 2 was brilliant.

ID4 is generally considered to be one of the most brilliant marketing campaigns in film history. It was one of first major films to use the internet extensively.
Too bad the film was mediocre at best.

"The Omen" (the original) also had a much imitatied campaign. It was one of the first to use a "Teaser" ad. The "Good Morning.You Are Now One Day Closer To The End Of The World" ads just saying that with the number 666 superimposed in the background appeared in papers and bill boards a couple of months before the film opened.

The marketing for "Batman"...the 1989 Burton film..was also brilliant. Warner's had a problem with people stealing the posters from theaters and other displays they were in such demand.
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post #16 of 19
10/31/05 at 9:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PodBayDoor
The marketing for the original "Saw" was so effective it actually convinced some people that the shit sandwich they were sold was good.
Yup, the Saw ad campaign was a 100 times better then the film itself.
Of course there is a long list of films in which the marketing was much,much, more creative and intelligent then the films themselves.
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post #17 of 19
10/31/05 at 10:08pm
The marketing for V was ace. Posting posters of the visitors up all over cities, and one week from the premiere, getting people to spray paint red V's all over them.
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post #18 of 19
10/31/05 at 11:41pm
Let's not forget the huge Jurassic Park marketing blitz, as over the top as it was it was definitely succesful. According to Box Office Mojo it made around $914,691,118 worldwide.
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post #19 of 19
11/1/05 at 12:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Werewolf Girl
Let's not forget the huge Jurassic Park marketing blitz, as over the top as it was it was definitely succesful. According to Box Office Mojo it made around $914,691,118 worldwide.
If I'm not mistaken, wasn't McDonald's supersizing initiative initially born out of the Jurassic Park marketing? "Dino-sizing," if memory serves?
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